Archives › Teach For America

“It’s see you later Ms. H, not goodbye!” N used to tell me this every single day before I hugged her and dropped her off at the bus to go home for the day. Even though she said it to me everyday, I always forgot to make sure to say “see you later.” But on…

I’ve had the opportunity to run two half-marathons in my life. The one thing I was always told by my more experienced runner friends is the pain undergone once you hit mile 10. There is something about miles 10-13 in a half-marathon that, for at least newbie runners like myself, is absolutely exhausting, painful, and…

Around this exact time last year I wrote an entry on how I finally learned how to long term plan. Well. It seems to have happened again. Somehow in this season of my life something just clicked about planning during my Professional Development day after Winter Break. Last year, I finally learned how to plan…

This season, 2nd quarter, has been an interesting time for me. I have realized that in 8 and 1/2 school days I will be 75% of the way through my Teach For America commitment. Most people in my life know already that I will not be returning after this year. As hard as this job…

There’s not too much to report on since I last updated. There’s needs to be a moment of celebration to take place because Black October is over. If that’s the worst 31 days of the year then let’s keep on truckin’. The people in my life made those 31 days go by about as quick…

If I could tell 1st year Corps Members anything, it’s that the 2nd year is so much easier. Even on my hardest days, I am 100 times more prepared and able than ANY day my first year. But the one thing that has never gone away are Sunday Stomach Aches. The nerves of getting ready…

One day when my students thought it was time for me to be a preacher instead of a teacher, I went through a long spiel that centered around being well behaved vs. self-disciplined. The look in my students’ eyes when I explained it confirmed that they had no idea there was even a difference. Truthfully,…

If I actually said everything I wanted to in this post, you and I would be spending our day at the computer. So for the sake of all of our sanity I’m going to keep this short as possible. Bear with me… On a side note of the rest of this post, you need to…

The very first thing our principal had us do in our school Professional Development was write out our vision/mission a.k.a. “Philosophy of Education” as an urban educator. So here’s how I feel about that… I love writing. On some days, I’d maybe even go as far as saying I’m decent at it. But I reaaaally don’t…

Tomorrow begins my second and final year of commitment for Teach For America. I remember hearing about how much more peaceful and prepared you feel going into your second year. I feel like I can respect that thought and there are for sure things I’m feeling confident about the fact that I’m familiar with what…

I have officially finished my first year of teaching in urban education. Am I tired? Absolutely. Am I glad that I am going to be getting a little bit of time to myself? Absolutely. But the absolute, most beautiful part of the year being over is watching how my relationship with my students HASN’T ended.…

I can’t believe in 6 and 1/2 days I will be done with my first year of teaching. I feel like I have wondered/longed/feared/doubted/anxiously awaited this day. Pretty much any adjective you can put in is how I feel. There is still a lot that has to be done. Involving and not involving my students.…

Funny because these two words seem to clash. State testing is over with as of last Thursday. As I walked around to monitor I felt both joy and disappointment. Not so much in my kids as myself. I was able to watch them work through and solve problems that we have spent countless hours on.…

This is short and sweet. But I just felt like the world needed to know that if everyday was like today at school, I think I would seriously considering staying post-my commitment. My kids followed directions. Learned. Went TO multiple centers. Talked at a level that is appropriate. Took risks in class. Had barely ANY…

Why this past week was abnormal… 1.) I only had 3 days of school this week. 1 day off for Good Friday, then I took an unexpected personal day on Tuesday. Note: my personal day was not at all because I felt like I needed a break from my kids. And honestly, it was so…

This title describes exactly who I am. And it is also the main reason it makes teaching a hard job for me. My heart is meant to form relationships and love others. As a Young Life Leader, my main role was to hang out with kids and help them in whatever way they needed. As…

Yesterday was the first time since my commitment that I realized, for some of my kids, school truly is the safest place to be for them. I always heard it from a lot of people and I think I just chose to agree with the statement, then move on with my life. I also learned…

The district (math department) has started figuring themselves out in some serious ways this semester. I spoke a little about this a few posts ago. But for the 5 strands of the MAP they have finally grouped our targets together to help us put them into units. They also are providing pre and post-tests for…

I found out right after school on Friday that the 6th grade long term sub is over the behaviors and doesn’t want her own class anymore. She’s been a very loyal sub, I was nervous for this day to come. However, when she spoke with my principal, I guess there was a conversation held that…

Guess what I learned to do at PSAT on Saturday? Saturday as in, January 21, 2012. Saturday as in, week after 3 quarter has started. How to long term plan. No but legitimately. A fellow corps member who somehow figured it out on his own took time to show me. And now everything makes sense,…

Winter Break was absolutely amazing. And even that, is an understatement. I was able to see literally almost every person that I love and is important to me. I was encouraged, rested, and loved. I can’t lie by saying it was hard to go back. However. There were two things upon my return to my…

I don’t have much to update on since Thanksgiving break. A lot of people have been asking me if things have been getting better/easier. I don’t think I can necessarily answer that question with, “yes.” I moreso just think the worst is over and I am more accepting/understanding that this is my life. I’ve been able…

Take 2 weeks off of work. No I don’t mean to LITERALLY take off work for 2 weeks. I mean cut down your work hours outside the school day GREATLY. 2 weeks ago when I thought I had reached my breaking point I decided cut down my hours dramatically. Was I nervous I wouldn’t be…

I hear this is the biggest milestone to hit your first year. “Make it to Thanksgiving and everything gets better after that.” We’ll see if it holds true. Over Thanksgiving break I did 3 things. 1.) Eat. 2.) Sleep. 3.) Hung out with friends. I felt almost TOO lazy. It wasn’t that I was…

Something is going on. Joy is starting to occur. And I don’t understand it. I’m not complaining about it but the LORD must be moving in some crazy ways, because in the circumstances I’m currently in there is no way I have created this joy on my own. Especially when it’s not like I’ve chosen…